Review: HYKE: Northern Light(s) (Nintendo Switch)

The Nintendo eShop states that HYKE: Northern Light(s) is about “witches, camping, and an adventure across the world.” I’m interested in only one of those things, but I gave this action RPG a go nonetheless. I’m happy to say it has its moments, but how many of those will depend upon what you want from it.

The game begins with a 1v1(+1) battle in the war between humans and witches. As is often the case, it doesn’t end well for the witch. We then quickly fast-forward to the future, where the witch’s daughter, Hyke, now finds herself without a family after the death of her father. Hyke decides it’s time to find out what really happened to her mom, so she packs her camping gear and portable radio and sets out on an adventure with her sleepy friend, Riko.

The portable radio is actually the important bit, as someone starts using it to communicate with Hyke, guiding her on a dangerous path in which she’ll meet numerous other witches with powers similar to her own. The adventure is largely split into two parts: dungeon crawling and camping. We’ll start with the former.

The gameplay in HYKE: Northern Light(s) is similar to that of other retro RPGs out there. You’ve got a top-down view of the action as you make your way through numerous, varied environments. You’ll have to dodge the charging enemies, then take them out with a melee attack or with your choice from a couple of magical attacks that are more effective but have a cooldown period.

Of course, the deeper you get into the game, the more numerous and powerful those magical attacks will become. More on that in a bit.

Exploration is fun enough, offering a decent balance of combat and level-mapping as you make your way through. You’ll get glimpses of treasure chests off the path that you’ll need to find your way towards, but there otherwise isn’t much backtracking. It’s all pretty expedient.

Each level ends with a boss battle against another witch, most of whom are protecting the area you’re exploring. They’re symbolic of the location, such as a robotic alien witch protecting Fifty-One.

In a fun twist, though, defeating these bosses then adds them to your party, allowing you to use them and their very unique skillsets in the levels to come. The abilities of the witches are so diverse that swapping characters almost felt like starting over, but mastering each will definitely help players through; certain skills are more effective against certain enemies.

That said, combat and exploration still become repetitive. The levels sometimes carry on too long, creating repetition in what you’re seeing and doing. Side quests and challenges spice things up, but only a little.

Perhaps this is why the developers tacked on the camping component. Unfortunately, that’s just the way it feels: tacked on.

When you’re not exploring or fighting, you’re chilling at your campsite. You can decorate it with items you’ve obtained, populate it with the people you’ve met and befriended, and cook. And that’s it. Cooking at least gives you buffs for your next run, but nothing else at the campsite serves a purpose beyond giving you something to look at and listen to.

I didn’t get the point, so I didn’t spend any time there.

HYKE: Northern Light(s) will challenge retro RPG fans in parts, and meeting a new witch provides for some fun combat and compelling narrative moments. Combat may be too imprecise, the story too predictable, but it’s all very pretty both visually and musically. It’s an enjoyable time when you’re playing, but this isn’t a trip that’s likely to stick with you.